Every movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a superhero movie, but each adheres to a particular cinematic subgenre. Its Spider-Man movies, for example, are gag-driven high school movies. Spider-Man’s MCU solo movies, directed by Jon Watts, have been heavily influenced by the high school comedies of John Hughes, so the conventions of that genre appear prominently.

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There are plenty of high school movie tropes that don’t appear in the Spider-Man films, like underage drinking and a nerd’s quest to lose his virginity, but that’s only because Disney would never allow them. So, here are 10 High School Movie Tropes In Spider-Man’s MCU Solo Franchise.

The lead is a handsome nerd

Peter is surprised by Aunt May while wearing the Spider-Man suit in Spider-Man: Homecoming

There are some tropes of the high school movie that the Spider-Man movies subvert. For example, the bully Flash Thompson is presented as even smaller and nerdier than Peter as opposed to a loud-mouthed, muscle-bound jock (as he’s depicted in the comics). But it does adhere to the most egregious cliché of high school comedies.

The lead character is supposed to be a nerdy loser who blends into the crowd and is practically invisible to the popular kids...but he’s played by Tom Holland, a handsome movie star. Other examples of this include Hailee Steinfeld in The Edge of Seventeen, Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Kick-Ass, Rachel Leigh Cook in She’s All That and, well, Andrew Garfield in the last round of Spider-Man movies.

The lead has a quirky best friend

Ned Learns Peters Secret in Spider-Man

In most teen movies, the protagonist has a quirky best friend whose sole purpose is to help them work through their girl troubles and cover for them as they juggle everything in their life. Every Ferris Bueller needs a Cameron Frye.

In the MCU’s Spider-Man movies, Peter Parker has that quirky friend in Ned Leeds. Ned’s MCU characterization is a lot different from his comic book counterpart, but if anything, the movies have improved the character. Jacob Batalon is always hilarious at playing Ned’s wildcard moves, like wearing a fedora to a party or falling in love on a transatlantic flight.

The lead’s platonic friend turns out to be his dream girl

Zendaya and Tom Holland in Spider-Man Far From Home

This trope can be seen in basically any high school movie. The lead protagonist is chasing a girl who’s out of his league and isn’t all that interested in him, and when he accepts that a relationship with her isn’t going to work, he realizes that his platonic female friend was his dream girl all along.

In the MCU’s Spidey movies, this happened with Liz and M.J. Spider-Man: Homecoming didn’t have the cheesy moment where the lead’s crush leaves and his dream girl is just waiting to dance with him, but that’s only because Peter left the homecoming dance to bring a plane down and fight his date’s evil dad.

The cafeteria has a regimented seating plan

Spider Man Homecoming Peter and Ned

In high school movies, every friendship group has its own table in the cafeteria. Those groups are also perfectly arranged to allow the main characters a clear view of whoever they’re talking about. In the Spider-Man movies, Peter and Ned sit together and talk about Liz, while staring at Liz from across the cafeteria.

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M.J. sits with them and calls them losers, and Ned mentions that she’s sitting with them, which makes her a loser, too. In real high school cafeterias, these rules don’t really apply. You just sit wherever there’s room and it’s hard to see anyone through the crowds of fellow students.

High school students spend more time in hallways than classes

Peter Parker and Ned Leeds in Spider-Man

In all high school movies, the students seem to have all the time in the world to walk down the hallways and chit-chat, while their classes are the most insignificant part of their day. In real life, there is no time to meet up with your friends between classes. If your friends were in the class with you, then you only really have time to ask what their next class is.

But since conversations between beloved characters in hallways are more interesting to movie audiences than teachers droning on about history, the hallway conversations make up most of Peter and Ned’s days at school.

Awkward romantic scenes

Peter Parker and MJ talk

Uncomfortable romantic scenes between the two leads can be seen in every high school comedy, from American Pie to Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Superbad to Can’t Hardly Wait. In both Homecoming and Far From Home, Peter Parker has excruciatingly awkward encounters with his love interests (Liz in the former and M.J. in the latter).

While he didn’t “get the girl” at the end of the first movie, he did at the end of the second one. And even when Peter finally got together with M.J. and they kissed for the first time on Tower Bridge, it was comically awkward.

Every teacher is an incompetent loser

While movies like Dead Poets Society can tell stories about teachers who inspire their students, your average high school movie, told from the perspective of the students, will depict every teacher as an incompetent loser. The Spider-Man movies are no different. In Homecoming, Mr. Harrington, played by Martin Starr, insinuates that he’s accidentally allowed children to die on field trips before, and in Far From Home, he talks about how his wife used Thanos’ finger-snap to leave him.

Similarly, in Homecoming, Coach Wilson (Hannibal Buress) is mocked by Flash in class and drawn by M.J. as a “person in crisis” during detention, and in Far From Home, Mr. Dell (J.B. Smoove) is a science teacher, yet he believes the Elementals to be the work of witches.

Leaving in the middle of detention is super-easy

In high school movies, if a student is in detention and they want to leave, they can just get up and leave. Anyone who ever had to go to detention when they were in high school will tell you that it’s not that easy. This trope appears in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

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After skipping school one too many times to swing through New York City and fight crime, Peter is sent to detention. Halfway through, he just stands up and leaves. Coach Wilson notices this, but he does next to nothing to stop him. It’s a funny moment, but it’s not very realistic.

Parties that were planned at the last minute have a ton of attendees

Any party depicted in a high school movie – even if it was hashed together earlier in the day and no one was formally invited – will be a heavily attended affair. The house will be packed wall-to-wall with teenagers. This can be seen in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Liz invites Peter and Ned to a party at her house on the day of the party, telling them that it’ll just be a casual thing.

But when Aunt May drops them off, it’s teeming with people. It’s the social event of the year. Peter and Ned enter the crowded house, as guests overflow onto the front lawn.

The lead’s crush automatically likes them back

Liz tells Peter she'll go to Homecoming with him

When most high school students have a crush, it transpires that their crush doesn’t like them back. But in every high school movie, whoever the lead protagonist has a crush on automatically likes them back, in order to advance the plot.

In Homecoming, Peter gives Liz basically no reason to like him, and he constantly flakes on their plans (he’s off fighting crime as Spider-Man, but she doesn’t realize that), and yet she likes him. In Far From Home, Peter decides against his and Ned’s plan to be “American bachelors in Europe” so that he can woo M.J. instead, and she just happens to like him back.

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